The FDA stated in a post to its website: "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruptive impacts on both regulated industry and FDA, on May 8 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted a joint motion in the case of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. et al. v. United States Food and Drug Administration et al., No. 6:20-cv-00176, to govern proceedings in that case and postpone the effective date of the 'Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements' final rule by 120 days. FDA remains fully committed to the rule and would not agree to postpone its effective date but not for the extraordinary disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new effective date of the final rule is Oct. 16, 2021. Pursuant to the court order, any obligation to comply with a deadline tied to the effective date is similarly postponed. FDA strongly encourages entities to submit cigarette plans as soon as possible, and in any event by Dec. 16, 2020. FDA has updated the 'Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements' small entity compliance guide and the 'Submission of Plans for Cigarette Packages and Cigarette Advertisements' guidance to include the rule's new effective date and updated timing for submission of cigarette plans." Publicly traded companies in the tobacco products space include Altria Group (MO), British American Tobacco (BTI), Imperial Brands (IMBBY) and Philip Morris (PM). Reference Link

The FDA told Bloomberg in an emailed response to a question, "People who smoke cigarettes may be at increased risk of infection with the virus that causes Covid-19, and may have worse outcomes from Covid-19." In a statement on March 27, the FDA said vaping and smoking only posed a higher risk for the coronavirus in people who had underlying conditions. Publicly traded companies in the tobacco space include Altria Group (MO), British American Tobacco (BTI), Imperial Brands (IMBBY) and Philip Morris (PM). Shares of Altria Group are down 2% to $38.27 in afternoon trading while Philip Morris is down 6% to $72.02.

CEO Andre Calantzopoulos said: "We expect that the pandemic will have adverse impacts on our full-year 2020 business results. Those already observable relate to a severe reduction of our duty-free sales, slower IQOS user acquisition and delayed minimum price enforcement in Indonesia. We also have to assume that, in certain markets, unemployment and related reductions in disposable income will have a temporary impact on market dynamics or the ability of certain small retailers to operate. The duration of the pandemic, the magnitude of its economic impact during the government restrictions, and the subsequent speed of recovery are today unknown. As we are currently unable to forecast with reasonable accuracy the impact of these factors for the remainder of the year, we are withdrawing our 2020 reported diluted EPS guidance of at least $5.50, originally provided on February 6, 2020, and are instead providing a forecast for the second quarter, for which we have relatively better visibility."

In Q1: Cigarette and heated tobacco unit shipment volume down by 1.2%, reflecting cigarette shipment volume down by 4.4%, and heated tobacco unit shipment volume up by 45.5% to 16.7 billion units; down by 0.6% on a like-for-like basis. Market share of heated tobacco units in IQOS markets, excluding the U.S., up by 1.9 points to 6.6% .

Until PMI is able to estimate the full-year 2020 impact of COVID-19 on its business with greater certainty, the company plans to continue providing quarterly forecasts on a one quarter forward basis, with the exception of the following items forecasted for the full year: capital expenditures of approximately $0.8 billion, compared to approximately $1.0 billion disclosed previously, with the reduction unrelated to reduced-risk product investments; and an effective tax rate of approximately 23%, subject to changes in full-year earnings mix.

As initially communicated on February 6th, PMI anticipated a soft second quarter in 2020, notably due to an unfavorable prior year comparison, existing dynamics in Indonesia and the phasing of certain costs. The company now anticipates a further adverse impact related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the largest quarterly impact this year expected in the second quarter. PMI forecasts second-quarter reported diluted EPS to be in a range of $1.00 to $1.10, including an unfavorable currency impact, at prevailing exchange rates, of approximately $0.12 per share. This forecast assumes the following estimated unfavorable EPS impacts in the quarter related to COVID-19: 10 cents for distributor and trade inventory movements, mainly related to reversals from the first quarter; 9 cents for lost Duty-Free sales, net of domestic sales recapture, assuming no recovery in global travel in the period; 5 to 15 cents for the impact of the delay in minimum price enforcement in Indonesia and other COVID-19-related factors, including temporary reductions in daily consumption and down-trading in certain developing markets. The forecast also assumes: a currency-neutral net revenue decline of approximately 8% to 12%, wholly attributable to COVID-19-related factors, including lower IQOS device sales; and no additional disruption in the company's ability to supply its customers, based on its current operations and inventory levels.